Day 4 – WDW (part 2). So many things.
Good things this time. GOOD THINGS!
We set off with Sienna and Theo into the Magic Kingdom!
Immediately upon seeing the Castle up ahead Sienna began acting strangely. I asked my mom if she saw what I was seeing. She nodded stifling a huge grin.
Every 10 feet or so Sienna would stop and curtsy. OMG. This may just be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And I have a whole lotta cute going on around here.
And THEN… the best text message I have ever received!
Nate convinced his Dad he was feeling better and they should meet us at the Magic Kingdom!
The rest of our day was great. It was slow and steady. We took a lot of breaks, but it was great.
We even had a Disney rite of passge, because I’m told it happens more often than you think, we were evacuated from a ride! We were evacuated from It’s a Small World to be exact. (That is a post for another day ;-)
We went to get some fast passes to The Little Mermaid ride and then we headed back to ride Prince Charming’s carousel.
Mickey’s Philharmagic, our adventure on It’s a Small World, Dumbo, Teacups, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.
Popsicles, lemonade, twirly light up souvenirs, hats, and back to Buzz Lightyear!
Celebrate the Magic and the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular. We ooed and ahhed over Celebrate the Magic. The kids were transfixed by the fireworks. Even Theo peeked out from under his blankie a few times!
We did it. My mom hugged me and for the first time I cried tears of JOY! I may or may not be tearing up right now. Sniff.
We took a walk down Main street USA and went home.
This is what memories are made of this stuff right here.
Day 4 – WDW (part 1). So many things.
Oh yeah, it’s gonna come to you in parts, Wednesday is. Mmmmm hmmmmm.
Good Morning Wednesday! Our fourth day at Disney and well, you’ve been reading right?
If not, a virus came on our vacation with us. Day 1 was ok. Day 2 not so much. And Day 3, well, it was kind of a bust. Where to start with Day 4? Oh I know…
Nate woke up with a 102.5 fever. Again.
Yes, seriously.
I gave him some meds. I call my mother and say I don’t know what to do anymore.
I feel defeated and sad and overwhelmed. And my baby is sick. Correction, two of my babies are sick. Theo is not coughing anymore, but still a whiny mess. I’m tired. So many things.
I planned for so long, saved for so long. So much expectation. And this day, this morning – I’m feeling it. I’m starting to lose the happy mask I have put on for the past few days. I need to leave the room without anyone. I go outside and call my mom again and tell her to meet me for coffee. I start to cry.
I just wanted this for my kids, for me, for my family. Just some happy freaking family memories. Is that too much to ask?
I’m walking towards reception just gutted and feeling super sorry for myself and my kids. I’m crying again now.
WHO EFFING CRIES AT DISNEY? It’s the happiest place on earth! OMG. I’m losing it.
Then this:
I thanked the cast members at reception, which I’m sure they thought was bizarro. I hurried off to the bathroom and let my self wallow and cry for two more minutes. Then I pulled up my big girl panties (literally), changed my attitude, and decided.
Nana, Sienna, Theo and I would head out to the Magic Kingdom!
I went back to the room and told the big boy that I wanted to take his sister to the park. I just had to. He knows and says it’s ok. I’m sad for him, but the girl is in a princess dress ready to see Cinderella’s Castle for chrissakes and that’s what we’re going to do. He gets it.
My husband is staying behind to tend to him. He’ll watch him and decide whether he needs more meds, a trip to the ER, a swim, ice cream: whatever he wants. They are together and they’ll be fine.
We’re all gonna be just fine. I guess I just needed a little Disney magic to send me on my way.
read moreWordless Wednesday – Hollywood Studios
Seen on the Hollywood Studios Backlot tour.
My baby girl told me “Mom, there’s no dancing on this ride!”
“Those are the rules.”
I’m gonna go ahead and give her that one. No dancing on the Studio Backlot tour people.
No dancing.
Flo: Low and Slow? – Day 3 at WDW
Ramone (and everyone in our family): Oh, yeah, baby!
What up Flo?
We woke up again with fever and coughing and gagging, and that was just the fit I was throwing because our vacation was getting RUINED!
No it wasn’t. Really. Maybe.
No, I told you already I was doing a swell job keeping my anxiety from the kids. I was trying anyway. The kids? Right…
Nate woke up sluggish and feverish again and Theo was still struggling with congestion. Now he was hardly eating anything. Fun stuff. Sienna was happy and thank goodness still unaffected by the virus.
We sat around for a bit and it was clear that we needed to rest. We need to take it low and slow that day if we were going to get these kids better. Today would be our non park day.
We got to the pool around 11 and settled in. Nate actually got in and it was good for him to move around and be aided and comforted by the water. He was slow and unanimated, but happy. Sienna was still happy, even happier.
Happy hula hoop girl!
Everyone ate lunch except for Theo who feel fast asleep in the stroller after a few goldfish. He slept for two hours like that. When he got up he didn’t want to swim or play or even walk around. I tried to take him for a walk around the pool and he made it for a few minutes then just wanted “up”. He snuggled into my neck as other kids squealed and played and splashed around us.
So here we are at the beautiful Art of Animation pool and Nate was still not better, but seems stable, and Theo appears to be getting worse. He doesn’t even want to play! Not even his favorite guy could make him happy.
Lightening, I am SO SAD!
Now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just take them both to the ER. It’s not an emergency, but we’ve been to the Urgent Care already. I call my pediatrician’s office again. I wait for a call back.I tell her about Nate she says you could take him back to urgent care if I feel like he needs it. Then we turn our attention to Theo. Her feeling is that the neb actually helped him to expel some of the junk in his system. She thinks that I should try it again. Really? My mother and I agree that it seems reasonable. My mom is both a nurse and has asthma. My mom and hubs sat as I take him back to the room. Sienna plays while Nate passes out for a nap on a lounge chair.
Theo does seem better after the neb which gets me to thinking about the last time he had an ear infection and needed a neb. They also put him on an oral steroid and one for the neb. He was much better after that. I call my pharmacy – no refills on those. Gah! I still had the neb meds at the house why didn’t I bring them?? I call my pediatrician’s office again, thinking maybe we can get some of that for him. I wait for a call back. And wait.
When they finally call back she tells me what I know she’s going to say. We can’t prescribe him anything without seeing him. I know. I know! I really just wanted her to say something different. As I’m talking to her. Steve comes to tell me he’s thrown up again. He tells me like the boy’s head had just exploded or something. The drama of it all. My god.
Turns out that after he hurls he starts to feel much better. Both boys climb into the “big” bed in the bedroom and settle in with cartoon for the night. They seem ok for the moment. I resist my urge to take them to the ER only because I know there is nothing else they can do for Nate – the virus needs to take it’s course, and Theo seems better since throwing up. Everyone is calm.
Needless to say we order in. Nana comes over and we try to pretend this is all totally normal, all vacations are like this, and everything is going to be OK!
I have a glass of wine. Now I start to calm down, a bit.
I’m trying Flo! Slow n’ low.
But I just keep thinking why didn’t I bring those extra meds with me? Why didn’t I get this “possible” asthma disgnosis worked out before we left. Why is Nate starting to look red? Why did the delivery place charge me $5 for an minuscule salad?
WHY?
read moreAnimal Kingdom Fever – Day 2 at WDW
A nasty virus had invaded our vacation. I had two down and out. One still feeling fine. Nana had taken the princess out of the room and went for a walk. I sat with the two boys who seemed to be getting better by the half hour. Medicines were starting to kick in and it looked like maybe we would make it out.
I had to make some strategic decisions about our plans based on how the kids were feeling, how I thought their illnesses might progress, my own experiences with Disney (I had only most recently been there 10 years prior), and the touring plans that our planner created for us.
Our vacation was scheduled from Sunday night to Friday night, leaving on Saturday morning. Epcot was Sunday just after arriving. We were meant to go to the Magic Kingdom on Monday and Thursday. Hollywood Studios on Tuesday. Animal Kingdom on Wednesday to give us the night free to go to Downtown Disney with Nana on her last night. Thursday or Friday would be a free day/ Magic Kingdom depending on the weather. There were plans in place! Funny thing about plans, eh?
I decided on the Animal Kingdom, because no offense to AK (I love you I really do), but I felt it was the one we could bail on and not really miss.
Animal Kingdom park is only open until 5pm in the off season. I had been there before and from my recollection I figured we could knock it out in a few hours. Also, if someone started to feel bad we could easily leave and be ok with that. So I packed us a lunch and off we went.
We hightailed it to the Safari in Africa. If Nate was himself he would’ve loved it but he did a lot of – “Yup, uh-uh, I see it”.
Sigh.
We got some fast passes to the Everest ride, and moved onto Dinoland, USA. He went on the Dinosaur ride and it scared him and with that, he was finished for the day. Sienna was happily playing in the Boneyard while Theo slept. Well that didn’t take long :-(
This photo was as animated as Nate got on our excursion to Animal Kingdom. He intermittently whined and wanted to boost someone’s seat from the carriage. He never made it to the Everest ride. Theo fell asleep after the Safari and didn’t wake up until the bus ride (this will become his modus operandi for most of the trip).
So after 3 hours, back home we went. My husband went back to the room with the boys. Sienna, Nana and I hit the pool, and the bar. Cheers Nana.
We finished up at the pool and had some dinner. In order to keep the sick away from her and to ensure she continued to have a good vacation, the princess had a sleepover with Nana! In a Little Mermaid Room! Fun right?
See. There is some fun going on, I swear.
I went to the lobby to get some information about medical care in the area. When I returned to the room I could see that we were going to need some of the resources I had procured. I called my pediatrician, they of course couldn’t help, and the night nurse was kind of a crank.
Hubs and I discussed and off they went to urgent care. I kind of started to lose my shit again here. Sending my baby off in a shuttle, a hot mess, without me. I know his Dad can handle it, but up until that moment I have handled every bit of their healthcare. But I needed to stay in the hotel with the baby who wouldn’t be soothed by anyone other than mama. There was some crying. By me. And him. But mostly me.
They came back at midnight. Baby boy had only just fallen asleep, he was still coughing and gagging. Big boy had a script for Amoxicillin and a diagnosis of Pharyngitis but a negative rapid strep. Sound familiar? We started the meds and everyone collapsed into bed.
I’m thinking perhaps we should take it easy tomorrow. You?
read moreEnter the Virus – Our First Disney Trip
We took a trip to Walt Disney World last week. We arrived on Sunday at noon. We boarded our Magical Express to the Art of Animation. It was all VERY exciting. It was our 1st Visit – they gave the kids these buttons :-)
The hotel was really amazing and I’ll review it for you later. We found our stroller and groceries just where the company said it would be. We went up to our room in the Mater building, yep a CARS themed suite! Had a bite to eat and then off we went to Epcot.
Everything was going great!!
We spent about 5 hours at Epcot that night arriving home for gelato and bedtime. The baby was pretty cranky but everyone picked out a space to sleep and we snuggled in.
I woke up first and got everyone up, almost everyone. My big boy was soundly asleep. Very soundly. I kept looking at him as we all walked by him noisily. He didn’t budge. I went over to him and could clearly see that his cheeks were bright red. I felt his face. He was burning up.
Enter the virus.
A few days before we left for vacation I took the baby to the pediatrician for a possible ear infection. Nothing showed up in his ears or in a rapid strep. But the day before we left he came down with a 102 fever. I hightailed it to urgent care. He needed to fly! She said he had some fluid in his left ear and gave him a script and cleared him to fly. He gave no real indication that his ears hurt on the flight, but he was becoming more and more congested, and whiny. (see Day 1. Sigh.)
After I was able to rouse the big boy, I took his temp – 103. He was mopey and coughing. The baby was wheezing so we used his nebulizer – he promptly vomited. Are you effing kidding me? This can’t be happening. The baby spent the next half an hour coughing and gagging. The big boy was on the couch practically motionless.
My mind was racing in so many different directions. What of the day? What should we do? Should we do nothing. Should I take them to the doctor? What doctor? I had only built in one day off. I wasn’t sure it would be prudent to use it on the first day! But LOOK AT THEM! OMG.
So there were are Monday morning of our week long Disney vacation. Our first vacation as a family, a proper vacation, an expensive vacation. There we were – one child in a heap on the couch and one puking in a recycle bucket.
This virus nearly ruined our whole vacation. It ravaged my oldest son, made the baby a crying lethargic mess, and it beat me down to utter exhaustion and tears.
I say nearly because as far as the kids are concerned they had fun. They don’t know what they missed. They don’t understand you can spend more than 3-4 hours at a park in one day. They’re kids – they had fun. But because I didn’t tell them we were going and I planned the entire trip while my husband worked, I had all the expectations for everyone built up in me. It was going to be the BEST TRIP EVER! (please say that like Rapunzel as she left the tower for the first time ;-)
When it started going all to hell I could feel myself slowly losing my shit. I kept it together away from the kids. But all that expectation is a hard thing to let go of. It hurts a bit. There were things we wouldn’t get to do. Things I wouldn’t even tell them existed here. I started canceling dinner reservations and character breakfasts. Hoping we just be able to get to the parks. Hoping we’d just get out of the hotel room.
——————
Nana took the well one out of the sick room for a walk. I gave meds and waited. Offered food and waited. After and hour or so they both began to perk up, a bit. Maybe we should venture out…
read moreAbout Me
Hot wife, Mom of 3, Human to #jojothedoodle.
They said WHAT?